Food Plots
 

We have a 40 acre field on our property and are looking into putting soy beans and corn in. But the field is covered in nasty weeds. I want the easiest and hopefully cheapest way to get all the weeds out. I am doing everything i can to make this the best hunting season possible!

RE food plots
 

Start off by doing a complete soil analysis first and see what your soils are needing in macro and micro nutrients as well as your ph levels. Next spray your areas your wanting to plant with glyphosate at least 41% concentrate. Allow about 10 to 14 days to dry up and then mow and burn the dried matter off the field if you can. Then disc your soil a couple times and if you have time let it sit for about 7 to 10 more days and go back and look for any new green growth. Sometimes you can have a dormant seed bed beneath the soil surface. If you see fresh green growing spray again with Glypho( round up) and let it set for 7 to 10 days and the you can disc and prep your soils for planting. This seems like alot of work but its one of the most effective ways to help combat weeds and grasses and keep them form overtaking your plots.

if you have access to a no till planter, after the kill down, fertilise and plant with out the tillage work, many thousand acres a year are planted this way for corn/bean production

Wow Mass Nutrition Inc, thank for all of that info!
This is going to help me out a ton. Thanks!

You can get glyphosate at a farmer's feed store for about 1/6 or 1/8 the price of Roundup. Got 2.5 gallons for a little over $40. This could have cost over $300 at a garden or home store as Roundup concentrate.

41% ? You mean at least 41% glysophate in the concentrate right? To mix with water, I typically use 8 ounces of the concentrate per gallon of solution ready to spray.

40 acres ... you'll need good farm gear for sure. Attempting this with "ATV" drag behind farming implements would be a poor route to go. And probably not doable at all without stressing the ATV's.

As for weed control. If these are only grasses, Round-Up (glysophate) will do just fine. Generic 40% is available down this way for about $45/2.5 gallons. If there are woody vines, briars and/or saplings, add 2-4-D to the mix. Might want to consider using a surficant as well. This helps the herbicide to "stick" to the weeds.

If I were you, I'd bush hog this field down prior to applying herbicide and do this ASAP. Let it sit 7-10 days, then apply the herbicide. Glysophate works more effectively on new growth. If the glysophate can stay on the plants a few hours, the job is done. The 2-4-D needs a 2-3-4 day period to really burn down the woody plants. The hotter the air temperature better.

Once the field is "dead", I'd disc or power till it up really good. I prefer the power till because it leaves a smooth seed bed. This will chop in the organic matter of the dead grasses and stems. But it will also "plant" any surviving weed seeds. So expect some weed grow back. At this point you have a choice .... plant your food plot now or hit it again with glysophate, and plant later.

My suggestion as far as planting is with a "culti-planter" type machine. When set up correctly, this machine can drop the seeds correctly spaceing ... plant a at the optimum depth ... and cover and pack the soil around the seed. We have done this with our fall plots with superb results.

For sure, as already mentioned, if you want a great food plot you should have a soil test made. And correct the soil according to the results. This will be the best $$$ that you spend.

As for post planting weed control. Either cultivate the crop ... or let the weeds go ... or plant Round-Up Ready varities, and control the weeds with glysophate application.

You might want to consider this fall planting a 40-50 yard wide strip of fall food plot crop along the edges of this field ... especially if the field borders a wood lot.

Just my opinion, we planted 15 acres with one medium size tractor and medium disk... after the weeds had died after spraying... it took 3 FULL days to disk and plant the beans. 40 acres sounds like it could take almost a week... Good luck.

If those are high weeds and brush I believe you will get a lot more day time use by just carving out several small plots of 0.25 acres or less connected by pathways. Forty acres is mainly a night time use area almost everywhere in Michigan for any crop except corn, and they often will just stay in the corn unless you have some compelling thing to bring them out. Ten 1/4 acre plots completely surrounded by high weeds, with maybe a 3 acre destination plot in the center somewhere, may be worth far more from a hunting standpoint than a 40 acre destination field, and will be a lot less costly.

Glyphosate works wonders as does Round Up. Glyphosate is cheaper for the application you are looking for. Personally I would do a soil test after you kill the weeds and brush and till if you choose to. 40 acres is a lot of area for deer to roam. I like keeping small travel plots throughout the property so deer feel right at home. Check out some of our progress on our food plots at HuntingEastCoast.com

Round-Up is the Monsanto brand name for Glyphosate. Their patent is up and others can offer the same chemical. The generic "brand" I use is Eraser. There are other "brands". Last time I bought some it was about $50/2.5 gallons for 40%. In my opinion, something that might work for this 40 acre layout might be to do the edges - about 50 yards wide. But I am only guessing because I don't have a clue about the locations of woods lines, creeks, etc.
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